Responding to the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) State of Care report, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said: 

"This report shows just how badly children and young people are being failed, with inequal access to services driving long waits and poorer health outcomes. We know that failure to intervene in childhood creates far more complex health conditions throughout adult life, but the nursing workforce crucial to delivering these interventions, including health visitors and school nurses, have collapsed in numbers.  

"Meanwhile, nursing staff in mental health and the community can’t keep on top of the consequential demand when services fail to intervene at an earlier stage. Nursing shortages are the problem, and investment is the solution if all children and young people are to get the best start in life. National and local governments must also prioritise addressing the wider determinants of children's health as part of the shift to prevention, and the nursing profession will be integral to this. 

“The findings demonstrate how inequalities run deep through our social care system, with people not just struggling to access funded care, but access care which is safely staffed. Providers are clear that recruitment and retention of staff is impacting safety and the experiences of vulnerable people.  

“The prime minister has spoken movingly about a national care service, and he must now take heed of the findings in this report. To deliver safe, dignified care to an ageing population with ever more complex health needs, we will need a fully funded plan to grow a stable nursing workforce across the sector.”

Ends